Under Duress [Sekne]

[Deleted]

it's not easy, knowing
tomorrow will never come

Across the centuries in which she had been alive, there was specifically one thing Rizali had never been, nor was that thing something she had ever experienced in the events that surrounded her. It had taken little more than a thimblefull of days in this forsaken, sun-blighted land to make her realise, however, that she was now in a realm that was completely and utterly dull. Perhaps there had been some time or would soon be some event that would make things lively and interesting, but that was clearly not this place nor this day.

She had spent the last few hours (though to her mind it felt months) cohabitating a shadow in one of the back streets of Hyrule Castle Town with two rats and a doorway to what smelled to be a refuse pit, but was apparently some manner of public bath. While an afternoon in an alley would normally not rank in her list of things to do, there was little choice in the matter given what she had experienced thus far. Even when they didn’t seem to be uncomfortable with her appearance, Hylians were, much to her dismay, especially hard to talk into giving her information on where one of her own kind might go, much less a princess. And so she had resorted to this, eavesdropping like some street urchin, hoping that one of the people walking by in clothing that wasn’t falling off would drop information that might prove useful.

But they were so dull, it was terrible. The bumpkins of Castle Town seemed perfectly at ease discussing what they were eating that night, or how their day at work was, or the political implications of the recent wars. Nothing about Midna, nothing about the coup that had taken place in her world, nothing interesting at all. She was verging on the edge of desperation; she had given up more or less everything to get here, and now she was sleeping in the shadows, running away from dogs, and stealing food. How far the mighty had fallen.

Convinced she was to find no useful information here, Riza began moving away from these rats she had determined were probably aware of her presence and the door which, conversely, probably was not. The good thing about doing this in the late afternoon was that the buildings covered most of the streets in shadow.

[Sekne †]

My loving heart, lost in the dark

"Stupid city... Stupid Hylians... Of all the blasted places to send me, it had to be here..."

Wayward glances were given by the evening crowds to the young Twili, holding her hood over her face as she avoided eye contact with any of these simpletons. Sure, they were rejoicing in war no longer plaguing their land, but they were in her way. Her princess had speculated on the presence of more Twili in this realm, especially with conflicts at a lull, and Sekne had the privilege of coming to Castle Town to look.


And if one more of the lightfolk bumped into her again, they'd be short a couple finge-


And, lo and behold, she turned a corner, skirting the shadows, and found herself directly in someone's path. She barely slid to the side to avoid a collision, and pivoted on her foot, fists clenched.

"Oi, watch where you're wa-"


Her anger cut off as she realized just who it was she was looking at. No one distinctive, but a Twili was hard to miss in a sea of lightfolk. It was almost instinct for her to reach back, hand on her knife, and she kept eye contact with the stranger.

"Well, I'll be damned... I'm not the only one of us here."

MADE BY ★MEULK

[Deleted]

it's not easy, knowing
tomorrow will never come

So it had come to this.

This was, if it were not obvious, quite different from Riza’s expectations of first contact with one of her own kind in this world. When she had received so many confused glances and responses to her initial questions, she had assumed it was mere stupidity on the part of the Hylian people. Over the past days, she had come to realise that she clearly was the only Twili in this realm other than the princess herself. But now, even that expectation was dashed and subverted at the intimidating hand of this young woman.

When she had seen her new acquaintance’s hand go for what was no doubt a weapon, hers went trembling to the wand at her belt. She had never actually been in a fight, and the anxiety of the situation had immediately gotten to her. The words barely struck her, swimming in a sea of buzzing noise as a ring of darkness closed around the edges of her vision. The skin-tone disguise melted away to reveal the blue-grey underneath, itself clearly off-tone and pallid.

Finally, when words came to her, Rizali found her voice trembling. “Y-you won’t take me back. I w…on’t let you.”

Nope, that was all the courage she’d had in her body. With full knowledge that she wouldn’t be able to outrun one of Pem’s dogs, and that her own illusion magic wasn’t going to sustain with her this scared, the court mage pushed backward with her left foot, turned, and began to flee. If there was one upside to having been imprisoned in these city streets for the last several days, it was that she had begun memorising the layout.

There was a certain exhilaration to fleeing for one’s life. Even as she reached the end of the block and felt her lungs already beginning to burn, Rizali could have laughed. If she had told herself this would have gone so poorly, would she have just stayed a court pet for the newest ass to sit on Midna’s throne? Or would she have just ended it by jumping from her window? It was hard to say, but she wasn’t going to let herself be put back in that situatio-

As she turned the corner, her foot didn’t catch properly on one of the cobblestones, and she ended up sprawling herself across the street, exhausted and a full twenty paces from her would-be assassin. On the one hand, this had been an utter disaster, but on the other, this was probably the furthest she had ever sprinted in her life. Personal best!

[Sekne †]

My loving heart, lost in the dark

She knew it. A cowardly supporter of the usurper, or at least a coward with something to hide. It had been so long since she'd had a proper chase, and a few meandering Hylians shied away as she smiled, drawing her blade with a flourish and taking off in the direction of the other Twili. Using glamours to blend in, it was to be expected of Pem's bootlickers.

She took off in chase, elbowing Hylians aside in her pursuit. It was fortunate both had to stick to the shadows, as it limited escape routes. But the girl was quicker than she expected, and she seemed to know her way around. But where she was familiar with the area, Sekne was crafty, vaulting obstacles between them. She might be able to catch up around the corne-

She almost burst out in a laugh when the other Twili tripped and fell, stopping for the briefest second before dashing the twenty paces between them, grabbing the other Twili by her arm and forcing her into an alleyway, out of view as she pointed her weapon at the other woman's heart.

"Traitors run, love, and you were too quick to give yourself up. Any final words, betrayer?"

MADE BY ★MEULK

[Deleted]

it's not easy, knowing
tomorrow will never come

A few different thoughts ran through Riza’s head during her brief experience of the ground. First was, of course, the burning in her lungs and the retroactive realisation that maybe if she had ever exercised, she could have run more than the length of one of these homes. The second was that she was about to be killed or dragged back to the Twilight by a member of Pem’s entourage. The third was annoyance that she was about to be killed by someone both younger and prettier than her.

Things progressed as she had expected as her arm was grabbed and she was wrenched upward, around, and against a wall. The collision forced a light “nh” to escape her lungs, but before she could react further an arm was across her collarbone and a knife was to her chest. Her heartbeat was so fast that no doubt her attacker could feel the fear. She tried to get her breathing under control, but it was hard, and while she felt a dark excitement at being pinned down like this, it was also terrifying.

At the other Twili’s words, Riza felt her eyes tearing up. It was all so unfair, it was unfair and shitty and she hated this. Through blurring vision, she glared into her assassin’s eyes and set her tremoring jaw. Her voice came out as anxiety-ridden and wavering, but cold. “I won’t apologise for abandoning your usurper. I-if I have to decide between you taking me back and killing me...” she swallowed, hard, “then I’d rather die.”

[Sekne †]

My loving heart, lost in the dark

The feeling of a pulse under her arm, held across the breastbone of the other Twili, brought a flood of adrenaline to her. It was always such a pleasure to deprive Pem his court, and she was lucky enough to find her newest target and prove herself to Midna, show her utter loyalty. It was a shame this girl was a traitor, she was cute, but Sekne's only love was for her princess.


But then she paused, blade dancing against flesh, as the other Twili spoke, and she blinked, a look of confusion painting her face. She spoke of her ursurper? Midna was nothing of the sort. Unless...


"Hold on there, who do you mean, my usurper? You're the traitor that serves the false leader, I serve my princess. Explain what you mean!"


She kept the blade honed on the girl, but it was pulled back. She was lucky her tongue gave her the chance to explain herself, silence was often earned a lot earlier by those in this position.

MADE BY ★MEULK

[Deleted]

it's not easy, knowing
tomorrow will never come

Riza was happy to see that her response seemed to have caused some level of confusion. Before the answer came to her, she got a cynical pleasure out of the fact that, if she couldn’t go out in some heroic or legendary action, at least she accomplished some small act of rebellion. Clearly Pem’s dogs weren’t used to nobles talking back to them, even if the bravery in the act was entirely feigned.

But that wasn’t the case at all, as she soon learned. The reason for the confusion was because… this girl had thought Rizali Corvus, master enchantress a servant of the usurper king? The relief that flooded through the illusionist’s body was like ice water in her veins, sapping all the energy from her. Her legs wobbled, and she likely would have slid to the ground if not for the arm pinning her to the wall. The one thing she couldn’t resist, however, was laughing. It was an ugly laugh, more in her throat than her stomach. She had a hard time believing that, after all of this, she wasn’t going to die after all.

“You’re not one of the Usurper's? Truly? Please don’t be lying to me so I’m happy right before you kill me.”

[Sekne †]

My loving heart, lost in the dark

"One of the usurpers? Are you okay in the head? I'm- Oh, forget it!"

With a frustrated sigh, she stepped back, taking the knife from Riza's throat, and flicked it shut, storing it away in its holster. She crossed her arms, giving the other Twili a stern look. Not an usurper? Or was she pulling a fast one? She wasn't good at running, but maybe it was a trap. Pity, she never liked going into those without a plan, but she had to make do.

"If you're really not going to snitch to whatever ass sits on that throne right now, get to talking. You're in the presence of Her Highness' personal assassin, and I've short time for liars. Either convince me why I should let you go, or cower against that wall some more so I have some entertainment."

MADE BY ★MEULK

[Deleted]

it's not easy, knowing
tomorrow will never come

As Midna’s personal assassin stepped back, Rizali felt some strength return to her legs, and stood up, straightening her robes. The one thing she knew about Zala’Vas from their time together in court was that he truly believed what in what he was doing; if he had sent this assassin, she wouldn’t be using lies and subterfuge. It gave her a small amount of comfort, and that comfort was all she needed.

Of course, this nameless assassin had no patience or class, which would have been annoying if she wasn’t also holding a knife. “If you serve Her Highness, I would honestly prefer you not let me go. I have been in this wasteland for too many days and I’ve despised every second of it. My name is Rizali Corvus, and I was to be the new Court Mage until you-know-who took over. I wasn’t able to flee until now, but I want to help. I need to.”

She stopped an inward-facing levity from reaching her features. “If you do not trust me, I will remain here while you check with the Princess. She knows me, I’ve served in her court since… the last time this happened. She knows what I went through and that I would never turn on her. Or you can take me to her yourself, at knife-point, and have her clear me there. If she says no, you can always kill me then.”

[Sekne †]

My loving heart, lost in the dark

"Well, why didn't you just say so? Our talk could have been sunshine and butterflies over a nice cuppa tea in that case! I'd be glad to leave you here and- Pfffffft!"

She let out a suppressed laugh, before flicking her knife back open and looking at the blade, making sure it caught the glint of what little sunlight filtered through, making the reflection dance ever so close to Rizali's face.

"Not a chance! I don't know if you're lying or not, so if you're coming with me, miss Court Mage, you best pack your bags quick and then we can get a move on. I've no time to dilly dally, and I'll be mighty pleased to hear our Queen confirm your status."

She flicked the knife shut, eyes darting up to make contact with Rizali's and she smiled, deceptively sweet.

"The only regret I'd have for the alternative is widening what I assume is such a pretty smile, but I'd get no less pleasure out of it. Off you pop, I won't be far behind at all."

MADE BY ★MEULK